Wrapping with Care
How to wrap gifts sustainably?
‘Tis the season to wrap and give gifts. Tubes of holiday wrapping paper are almost always wrapped in film plastic and often the paper itself is foil-stamped, making it not recyclable. Our team at Collective Resource would like to pass on a couple of clever tips from our employees to make your holiday wrapping a gift to our planet as well.
Mary Beth, one of our zero waste consultants, suggests using a gift bag for each family member throughout the eight nights of Hanukkah. She chooses a gift bag for each of her girls and then on each night she places their gifts in their respective bags. Those bags have become a tradition and she pulls them out every year. Throughout the year, she wraps other gifts in scarves and is delighted when her giftees wear the scarves. Having trouble picturing how to wrap a gift in a scarf? This video shows you how.
Phoenix, one of our customer service and marketing assistants, suggests using cloth napkins tied with paper ribbon or cotton string for Yuletide gifts. “Don’t be afraid to ask for the linens back after your friends or family open them,” she says. “Almost everyone thinks it’s a great idea and doesn’t mind.” She loves adding real herbs or small evergreen branches cut from her garden for a beautiful accent. Her favorite part of this is the wonderful smell of those accents, along with their compostability. Tea towels and handkerchiefs also work well.
Do you have other gift wrapping suggestions that reduce and reuse? Send us an email at customerservice@collectiveresource.us with your suggestions for sustainably wrapping gifts and we’ll share them on our social media.
Gift of Composting
Most people are concerned about climate change and are not sure what to do about it. Here’s something we can all do. Give the gift of compost service, a gift that does no harm to our one-and-only planet, that renews the soil that grows our food. We make it easy! Fill out this form with your giftee’s information and we’ll send them an e-card informing them of your gift and how to set up and use their new composting service.
